


Smoke Clouds and Fire Lights

by pluto42



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Industrial Revolution, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, M/M, Past
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-27
Updated: 2018-07-30
Packaged: 2019-06-16 22:10:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15446943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pluto42/pseuds/pluto42
Summary: Lance is a simple hospital worker in a city called Pan, which is divided in three minor cities (underground, middle, and upper), when factories start mysteriously catching fire he is joined by Keith, in a search for who might be causing them and why.(the story passes itself somewhere around the late 1800s btw, around the second industrial revolution, but I don't promise that technology is time adequate tho)





	1. chapter 1

 Lance watched the clouds created by the steam engines; in the Middle City the sky is a mystery, something described in myths and stories passed by generations, he looked up and ignored the city around him, bathed in sad, gray colors. Because of the lack of natural light, life is dark.  
  He almost stumbles upon entering the trolley, which takes him from home to work every day, the machine driving the vehicle lets out a sharp whistle as if to say goodnight, then, humans and machines sit and wait for the next stop, the trolley starts moving, the view of the dark city is depressing, but somewhat beautiful, the lights and steam gave the view a painting effect, as if everything is just a dream, and you could wake up at any moment.  
  The city of Pan is awake at night, since the steam and heat of the many machines throughout the city get too hot; the steam of the machines balances with the cold night air, leaving a mild temperature, ideal for the hard work of a factory worker or the careful job of a tailor.  
  The silence along the way gives room for the noises of the city, the main market can be heard in the distance, where tea and amulet sellers shout about their products, and little kids run around with their pets, even though they live in darkness life is still enjoyable.  
  Lance only accompanies the horizon, if there is any, the middle city is as small as a can, only the rich are fortunate enough to live in large houses in the Upper City, just above the heads of the people and the clouds, near the stars; but he can't complain, the poor live just below his feet, beneath the gigantic concrete platforms that hold the houses and the middle city; Underground City, which was built hundreds of years ago, in an attempt to separate the rich from the poor, Middle City was a second attempt when the first one failed, there, whole families share one room, the distinction between steam machines and humans is nonexistent, and the place is lit only by tall torches near the ceiling, the three cities together form the great metropolis of Pan.  
He was wondering about his job, his friends, his life, many things go through his head everyday, always thinking about something, head in the clouds.  
  He had to leave his thoughts when he heard the driver's whistle and had to get off at his stop, he worked in a hospital, in the mechanics area, where broken and damaged machines go to get repaired, the lobby of the place is huge, bronze, brown , red, and various tones of brown and orange painted the place, chaos was evident. He went straight to his desk at reception, he was very fast at his job, so chaos never bothered him, work always went on peacefully.  
  —Where do you think so many people are coming from?-Hunk, who is his friend and works as a helper around the hospital with the machines asks.  
  —I don't know.-He looks across the lobby, where the area of natural beings is, several people are on gurneys, most with some kind of burn, red meat exposed, their groans of pain couldn't be heard, but it was clear that there were some by the movement of their mouths, agony was evident in them.  
  With a little disgust and worry Lance looked to the side, grateful to work at the mechanics area, even at the lobby, after all, everyone has to enter through the front door.  
  Hours later, his shift ends, he was walking in the empty streets of the middle city; usually when the sun rises the people are already sleeping, the city is calm, and he can no longer hear the people at the market, it’s calm and he let his thoughts go free to run wild, but he wasn't thinking of anything in particular at that moment, only of the clouds, which were changing color; yellow, purple, gray, black, that was a rare occurrence, he wondered if the sky changes color like the clouds or if the clouds only change because of the light the of mansions over them, sometimes he wished he could be on the bridges that connect the upper city, only so he could see the sky, instead of the concrete platforms under his feet.  
  Soon he received the company of the lamp lighters and decided to go to sleep, he isn't used to daylight, everything is too light, but the colors are much more vivid than usual, as if they wake up in natural light, he thinks its pretty, specially when its purple and blue.  
\- -  
  The day goes on, the night arrives and the city comes to life, again the trolleys pass through the streets and sellers shout about their products for workers in a hurry, but this time in the distance the yells of the newspaper delivery boy can be heard: "Jewelry Factory catches fire! Cause unknown! ".  
  At that moment he felt bad for the victims he had seen the night before, but there was nothing he could do, yesterday is gone and today is today. He could only hope something similar would not happen again.  
  He was told to come to a meeting as soon as he arrived at the hospital, nothing important, he was transferred to the area of natural beings because of the large numbers of victims from the factory fire, now he would work as a helper, which was like a promotion, rather than staying in the counter he would run around helping patients and calling doctors, which is much more exciting than receiving letters and greeting patients who were machines, at least now he could interact with people.  
  In the middle of the night the place filled up suddenly, another factory was turned to ashes, this time of mechanical parts, he was sad for the growing number of lives at risk, life is already bad and hard enough as it is, there is no reason for these accidents to happen, the factories are one of the only big source of income for the city, and no one is there to help them. He ran the whole hospital, attending to victims of both tragedies that day, and was exhausted when he got home, the telephone ringing didn't help, he let it ring until it stopped, after five minutes it rang again, he answered, the noise was giving him a headache.  
  —Lance?-He heard a familiar voice on the other side, and recognized it as a detective who showed up in the hospital from time to time, eventually they had become friends.  
—Keith? Why are you calling me like that?  
—You work at the hospital, don't you?  
—Yes, what's wrong?-He yawned.  
—I need help, I think the fires today and yesterday were caused by someone, my superiors say otherwise but I’ll still investigate, I know you work in the hospital, I need to get in touch with some of the victims.  
— ... Okay, but you need to calm down mr.Conspiracy, call me tomorrow morning, not now, unlike you I haven't been looking at files on my desk all day.  
—Ha ha, very funny Lance, and don’t call me that.  
He hung up, and slept right there on the couch.  
\- -  
He woke up to the sound of the phone, his body ached because of the bad night of sleep.  
—Where can I find you?  
Lance let out a sleepy groan.  
—In the hospital, area of natural beings, wing A, humans.-He hung up.  
A few hours later he found Keith sitting impatiently in a chair in the waiting room, he stood up when he saw Lance.  
—So, I can't put you in contact with the patients now, that would break the hospital's protocol, but I can put you in touch with my boss, he could give you a permit.-He said.  
—Ok, but I don’t think I need a permit, I could just go around talking to them, I just need to talk to some, not all of them, the ones that were closer to where the fire started, to the entrances …  
—No no no no no, Absolutely not, if they catch you disturbing patients its you getting dragged out of here and me getting in trouble for letting you do it.  
—Ok.-Keith responded in grumpy way.  
They went up to the top floor, where the room of the hospital manager is. Lance didn't go in, he doesn't like the manager, who’s arrogant, and acts like one of the people in the upper city, as if he was the owner, several people like him do just because they’re in positions of power, but they still live in the middle city, simply because they don't have the money to live above the clouds, just near them, they remain the same as everyone else, working for the rich.  
Keith came out with a smile.  
—I can talk to them, but I only have two hours.  
—Only?  
—Thats not a lot, though I just have to know who to talk to.  
—Well, good luck, I'd love to help you, but I have work to do. -Lance started to walk away.  
Keith's smile dropped a little.  
—Actually ... I was hoping you'd help me out here, I don't know where any of the victims are.  
— ... I'll show you the files.  
They went back to the front desk and created a map, there were many victims, they didn’t know if time would be enough, maybe not, they could only hope.  
Before leaving, Keith turned to Lance:  
—Would you like to work with me on this case? I know you're not a policeman, or a detective, but you have contact with the victims, I understand if you don't want to-  
—I’d love to.  
—Oh ... great.-He smiled, and left.  
Lance stared at the door to the hallway where he had entered and turned to Hunk.  
—Did you see it?  
—The detective? I did.  
—He wants me to work with him.-He smiled.  
—Do you like him?-Hunk said with a mocking smile.  
—I don't hate him.  
—Not in this way.  
—Um? Ah-Ah! No.  
—Uhum. I don't judge this kind of people, okay? It’s their life.  
—I know…-He said.  
He spent the day seeing Keith, and after two hours he was still there, he said he wasn’t able to get enough testimonies from the victims, so he decided to disobey the permit of only two hours and stayed there all day, Lance tried to talk him out of it but he was stubborn, sooner or later someone caught him and he was asked to leave, he still didn't.  
After he was done he went home on his horse.  
—I thought you would use a carriage or something, since you're a detective, if it was me it would be fancy and expensive.  
—My life is not has luxurious as you think, money is short...do you want a ride?  
—No thank you, I might fall.  
—And hurt that pretty face of yours?  
—Exactly, I- What?  
Keith laughed and went home, his horse making a loud sound on the streets made of bricks, the lamps illuminating him. Lance took the trolley back home, thinking about working with Keith, “nothing here, just work, I don’t like him like that, it wouldn’t be normal if I did.” He thought, but he was still thinking of him when he got home, “its nothing”.  
The air got cold with the machines.


	2. chapter 2

Lance had a night off, so he decided to go to the bar at the street corner, he took a pencil and a notebook with him, and asked for a beer, he liked to draw the city, with it's machines blowing smoke and vapor, the horses, and the children running around, specially the main square, where the market is, the city itself had a peculiar beauty.  
As time passed he got bored and decided to draw the remains of the factory that had burned down, he had drawn all the sights of the city already, a new place is better than nothing, especially now that it was no longer a hazard to health because of the ash and smoke, the place would be empty.  
After paying for his drink he walked to the site; The place was completely destroyed, but the way the ashes looked in the light of the lamps was simply amazing, the shadows casting down upon the black floor and the destroyed machinery was just stunning, it would be a challenge to capture the feeling, but he was up to it, consuming time was the best thing he could do right now.   
The charcoal from the pencil would stain his hands, making them darker than the night, which would stain the drawing a little, but he didn’t care, its not like he was going to show it to someone; That was his treasure, and he liked to keep it to himself.  
After a few hours he was done, it didn’t look perfect, but it looked good enough, though he was shy about his drawings sometimes he still wished he could be an artist, have his drawings exposed in museums, get enough money to get his family out of the underground city, travel the world, see what it looks like, that was the life, but instead he was stuck working in a hospital; gotta take what life gives you; He doesn’t think that his drawings are that good anyway, he’ll never have enough talent, he can only dream.  
Upon leaving the place he saw Keith, running towards Lance, greeting him, he hid the notebook behind his back.  
—Hey, Keith…What are you doing here?  
—I’m looking for anything that might indicate the fire wasn’t natural, some kind of proof.  
—Are you sure the fire wasn’t natural?  
—Yes, I interviewed the people that worked here, they had a checkup on the electricity every month, so it can’t be malfunctioning wires, what else would it be?  
Lance shrugged   
—I guess you’re right.  
—But what are you doing here?  
—Me? Nothing really, I guess I got curious and came to see.  
—I guess everyone has been curious lately, did you touch the floor? Your hands are black like coal.  
—No, no, I mean yes, I fell actually.  
—You ok?  
—Yeah.  
Keith gave him a concerned look, turned around and started walking towards the back of the place, looking at the floor and moving the ashes with his foot, Lance kept looking at him a bit confused, then he got to the machinery and started examining it.  
—But what exactly are you looking for?  
—I don’t know, I guess anything that proves me right.  
He went under some fallen beams, Lance followed him out of curiosity, but also afraid that he would get hurt, Keith pulled something that was hidden under them, close to a piece of wall, a cylindrical object that was blown on one side but perfectly intact on the other, as if it had exploded.  
—That is not part of the machinery, I would know, I worked most of my life in the mechanics area of the hospital, I’ve never seen something like this- Lance said suspicious.  
—Do you know what this could be?  
—No, but I know someone who might, she works at a bar, her names Pidge.  
—Then let’s see her, come on, I’ll take you.-Keith said getting up.  
—I…what…where?  
—On my horse.  
—I-  
—Just hold on tight.  
Lance got on the horse and put his arms around Keith so he wouldn’t fall, the horse was extremely uncomfortable, but Keith was warm, no wonder he wasn’t wearing a coat, he was warm like a blanket, he made the horse seem more comfortable.  
—Where to?- he asked.  
—I’ll show you.  
He rested his head on Keiths shoulder so he could see, even though his hair would be a little inconvenient, and screamed to Keith every time they had to turn a corner, he wasn’t used to going that fast so he got lost a few times but managed to find his way to the bar.  
Pidge was resting on the counter when they came in, she had a few beer and lubricant stains on her green dress .  
—Pidge.  
—Lance…who’s that?  
—That’s a friend of mine, Keith, he brought something for you to take a look at.  
She looked at Keith then at what he was holding.  
—Ok, let me see.  
Keith put the object on the counter, Pidge took it in her hands and analyzed it carefully.  
—I might be wrong, but it looks like some kind of fire bomb, whoever bought it is definitely rich, maybe even from the upper city, but this is only sold in the underground, or in the shadows of the market, whatever it was its probably illegal in some way or another, and its destroyed now so its worth shit, where did you guys find it?  
Lance was about to say it when Keith interrupted.  
—On the street. We were walking and we found it.  
—Well, whatever it was, its pretty much just garbage now.-She said giving it back to them.  
—Ok, thanks.  
—You’re welcome…that’s five shillings.  
—Five shillings!? - Keith said.  
—You think I go around doing shit for free?  
—I-  
Lance interrupted  
—I’ll pay, see you outside.  
They watched as he left the bar.  
—You know, you brought in many girls but thats the first time you bring in a guy, are you running out of options or are the girls getting tired of you? -She said with a mocking smile.  
—Very funny.-He said putting the money on the counter, she grabbed it and put it in her pocket.  
—But seriously now, where did you guys find that? There’s no way it was just lying on the street.  
—…We found it in the ashes of the jewelry factory.  
—Oh wow, why didn’t he say so?  
—I don’t know, I guess he doesn’t trust you.  
—Um.  
Lance felt a bump on his leg, looking down to see a small robot carrying dishes and cups.  
—oh hey rover, how is he?  
—he’s doing fine, he doesn’t whistle anymore, clients are also complaining less.  
—Thats good, are you going to change to those new machines that use fuel instead of steam?- He looked to the front and leaned on the balcony.  
—Never, he's my friend.  
—Maybe you could upgrade hi-  
Their conversation was interrupted by Keith bursting in, sweating, he grabbed Lance and rushed outside.  
—What the hell!?  
—There’s another fire happening right now! Look!  
He looked at the sky, a big red and orange ball of flames could be seen between the buildings, there is more smoke than usual, making it harder to breath. He wasn’t outside the hospital the other times so he had no idea how bad it was, he could feel the heat from the bar and hear the firefighters rushing towards the fire in the distance. They both got on the horse and rode as fast as they could to where the fire was occurring, it was so big that approaching was too dangerous, it was clearly worse than the other two, Lance could hear the people talking around him, there would be no survivors this time.  
They sat on the sidewalk, hoping that the fire would become small enough to aproach, they would have waited for it to die out if they could, but the sun was rising and they needed to go home, he still had work the next night, Keith offered him a ride home, he accepted, gripping tight onto his shirt, and going out on full speed, after they arrived he thanked him for the ride.  
—I guess I should say thank you for helping me too.-he answered.-tomorrow I’ll show this to my boss, see what he has to say, hope he believes me.  
—Good luck.  
—Thank you, I’ll need it.  
—Can I ask you something? Why didn’t you tell Pidge the truth?  
—…I don’t really trust people, anyone one I don’t know could be causing the fires.  
—Still you trust me.  
—I know you.  
—Do you? - They laughed a little.  
Keith continued.  
—Could you do me a favor and ask the victims from the fire some stuff every once in a while? Then maybe we could go to that bar, I don’t know just to check the facts about the case, another day of course.  
He took out a notebook and wrote a list, then gave it to Lance.  
—This is a list of questions that might help me, also my address, in case you need to send me a letter. Can you do that for me?  
—Sure, you make me feel like i'm a detective.  
—You could be.  
They smiled at each other, and said goodbye, again Lance saw the boy disappear in the lights of the city.


End file.
